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James looked again at the woman and, again, felt the need to ask.
“You said Qrow, right? Qrow Branwen?”
“Yes. Is he here or not?”
James really wanted to say that he wasn’t, but at the same time he needed to know what was going on. So ultimately he decided to stay honest. “He is. Well, he’s on a mission, but should be back any minute now.”
“Great.” The woman, she said her name’s Oak, had just appeared in the Academy out of nowhere. As far as the general knows no one had seen her come in, and that was what had he most on edge. He couldn't trust her, but since she came asking for Qrow he was willing to wait for answers. Especially because waiting meant that Clover would come with him and he would feel more safe with a soldier by his side.
After that she sat in silence, head turned to one of the windows in his office. She didn't look too dangerous, James didn’t even see a weapon. But at the same time that’s what made him nervous. There’s no way an unarmed random woman could make it to his office in Atlas without being dangerous deep down.
Minutes went by in silence, when suddenly a ping from his scroll startled him. By the looks of it they were back from the mission, so maybe his best option was to go down to the hangar. “If you’ll come with me.”
She got up like everything that was going on was perfectly normal, and followed the general through the corridors. On the way some of his soldiers looked at them weirdly, obviously wondering where that woman came from. When they finally made it to the hangar the ships were just taking land.
The first out were team RWBY, followed shortly by some of the Ace-Ops. Right behind them, opening for team JNOR and a laughing Elm, were Qrow and Clover. Both men were talking in a low tone, solely focused on one another. Ever since their arrival those two had been joined by the hip, and James was pretty sure that was not only in the metaphorical way.
When Qrow raised his eyes and saw them he froze.
It took James a second to reach for his weapon. He didn’t draw it out, but was ready for combat. Soon he found out it wasn’t necessary. In less than a second Qrow was by their side, arms thrown around the woman. From his position barely a couple meters away he heard them greet each other. “Thunder. Oh, Brothers. I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“Hey, Birdi. You doing good?”
“As much as I can. How did you knew I was here?”
“You know. I have my ways.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him, and to Jame’s surprise Qrow broke into laughter. And by the looks of everyone else there he was not the only one who found it weird.
“Uncle Qrow, who’s this?” Ruby stepped forward, looking at the woman.
“Ah, of course. Sorry.” He said, taking a step back. “This is Oak.”
“And you know each other from?...” Asked Yang.
“Oh, I’m his wife.”
Clover wasn’t a judgy guy. He was fine working alongside anyone, never looked down on people just because he was from Atlas, respected faunus as equals and was always in favor of giving second chances to everyone.
That said, he wasn’t okay with his boyfriend having a wife. That was kind of a red line.
So when he heard that woman present herself as Qrow’s wife he froze midstep, taken back for the surprise. He couldn’t even talk. Thank gods all the kids took that from his shoulders.
“YOUR WHAT!?”
“It’s kinda a weird story, I guess. Basically, Oak was at Beacon at the same time as we were. We became friends and a couple, I guess. Then after we graduated we both started working for Oz. We spent a lot of time together. We grew even closer. Then my sister started bitching about how I should go back to the tribe and I didn’t want to. Then I remembered that if I married outside the tribe she couldn’t drag me back without my spouse. And Raven hates Oak. So I married her.”
After all that everyone could just stare in awe. That definitely fall into ‘weird story’. Ruby was, again, the first one to recover enough to talk. “Then she’s my aunt?”
“Absolutely not.”
“In theory…” Intervene Qrow. “Don’t be shy, welcome to the family.”
“I’m confused,” said then Weis, holding Ruby by the cape so she couldn’t leap to the woman. “What did you got out of it?”
“That my parents had to stop pestering me to get a husband.”
“It was win win.” Nodded Qrow by her side. He looked happy, so happy standing by her side, that Clover felt a little, tiny, minusculus, pain on his chest.
Qrow was married, maybe he was just messing around with him in the end, just like his team had warned him. Maybe those few nights they’ve spent together had ment much less to the older. He was only a way to have fun, to pass his time while he waited for his wife. Clover was really stupid for thinking that Qrow Brawen was gonna fall for him.
“I know this is shocking, but all you kids should go hit the showers. Dinner would be served soon.” At least Ironwood still knew how to command their ‘troops’. And even if they leave complaining, all of them left. Followed by the general and the Ace-Ops.
Clover was about to follow them. But Qrow was faster and took him by the arm. “Thunder, let me introduce you to Clover. He’s uh… He’s my boyfriend.”
“Aw, welcome to the family. Disclaimer: if you hurt Qrow I’ll kill you.”
“Wait. Boyfriend?” Clover was confused. Confused didn’t even began to cover it. They couldn't be boyfriends, he was married . That wasn’t right. But, truth be told, Qrow hurted face wasn’t right either.
“I mean, I guess I didn’t asked you. But I thought that…”
“You’re married, Qrow. Married . I-I can’t…”
“Don’t stop in my account, hotstuff. We said it. We only got married so we could get things out of it. Now, I’ll give you some alone time to talk it out. But, one last thing. Only gonna ask once and I can take a no as an answer.” She paused, kinda in a dramatic way if you asked Clover. And judging by Qrow’s face it was gonna be weird. “Can I jump in this one time? Or too weird?”
Clover’s mind broke with that. It was officially too much for him. “Too weird! Get out, you perv.” Screamed Qrow, pushing her out of the room.
“Wow, relax. A girl’s gotta try, you know.”
She was out of the room in seconds, leaving them standing in the middle of an empty hangar. “So… Your wife? She seems- extravagant.”
“She’s weird. You can say it. But also very nice. And a good friend. I know it’s odd all this marriage thing, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. But I didn’t know what she was up about. And that’s not a first date type of conversation.”
“It’s okay. Kinda weird. But I guess I can work with it.”
“Good. ‘Cause I’m not gonna let you walk away.” Qrow stepped closer to him, his hands on Clover’s hips and he was giving him that look. That look . The look that made his knees weak and fired up the desire that was running through his veins whenever they were in the same room.
“I hope not.” Their lips met halfway. And maybe it still was a bit weird to Clover, and maybe there still was a lot to be talked about. But in that moment, he was fine with whatever Qrow threw his way.
“We should go get dinner,” said Clover when they separated. “And you probably should go save Oak from your nieces. She’s weird, but no one deserves that.”
“Aw, you’re starting to like her already.”
“No way. But I guess she can’t be that bad if you like her.”
“Give it time, luckyboy. You’ll grow fond of her.”